DOCUMENTING YOUTH : CHENGDU by McQ

Updated: Sep 29, 2019

Capturing the beauty, spirit and energy of youth forms the foundations of McQ. Whether they are inspired by it or reliving it, the essence of youth races and chases through the veins of McQ. ‘Documenting Youth’, the project launched earlier this year, continues its journey across China as it reaches Chengdu. Long considered the quiet relative to Shanghai and Beijing, but behind its easygoing – if dramatic - exterior hides a city ready to explode with animated vitality. Local tattoo and graffiti artists, students, a barista (who also runs a biker club), a cult online store owner, and a model make up the cast of the multimedia project, photographed by Chris Rhodes and caught in action by the LA videographer and skater, Joshua Zucker.

Captured in the communities that they call home. Some are shot in TAG Club, a house and techno club reminiscent of 80s Berlin, that is so proudly underground that it is housed on the 21st floor of a central tower. Others are embedded in the local hot pot food community, surrounded by kitsch lights, or in their own familiar tattoo parlor, or even at home. They have been caught in their own easy environments, creating authenticity and a moment snatched. Even the clothes were hand-picked by the cast themselves, choosing what was true to them, and not someone’s interpretation of what they should wear, be or do.